Seed savvy
Fall Training Programs LEARN TO HELP OTHERS HEAL of HYPNOTIC ARTS & SCIENCE
10 month part time program
» starts the weekend of September 4
4 week intensive program
» starts September 7
Contact us while there are still seats available in both classes.
Call 604-542-1914 or e-mail info@coastalacademy.ca For complete details on programs and to pre-register visit
www.coastalacademy.ca
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AUGUST 2010
ON THE GARDEN PATH Carolyn Herriot
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ORGANICS armers and agriculturists have been growing food and selecting seeds for future harvests aware of weeds that hide among plants for 10,000 years. Fewer than six genand remove them before inadvertently erations ago, our ancestors lived rural collecting their seeds. lifestyles, growing food and saving their I collect most seeds in brown paper own seeds or acquiring them locally. bags, upon which I write the name and Today, the majority of farmers don’t date of collection and any other pertinent save seeds and most of the rest of us information. If there’s a large volume have forgotten how. As passive consumof seeds to collect, I line large, plastic ers in a global economy, despite all the tubs with bags, which then stay in the amazing technology at our fingertips, we greenhouse for two weeks so the seeds have forgotten how to feed ourselves. can dry. They are then moved to the dry Modern seed production is geared garage, which is cooler, until they are towards agribusiness, which is geared cleaned in October. towards making food production as Labelling: For everything you colcheap as possible. Plant breeders lect, identify the name and record the hybridize seeds for identical plants for date of collection and any special feauniformity in harvesting and processing. tures. In this biotech age, seeds are geneticalDrying: Thorough drying is critical ly modified for resistance to the everbefore storing seeds in sealed containincreasing amounts of pesticides that ers or envelopes. The larger the seed, are needed for ‘farming’ with unnatural the longer it needs to dry. If possible, monocultures. Today’s consumers have leave seeds to mature on the plant, but it become addicted to an abundance of is sometimes necessary to harvest seeds cheap food from around the world, made possible by an era of plentiful fossil fuels. Unfortunately, the reality of cheap food is that it harms the Earth and it’s killing us through poor nutrition in the process. As we transition towards a sustainable future, agriculture will once again be based on small-scale, regional food production and we will need naturally pollinated seeds, which we can keep saving. Row of five-colour silverbeet going to seed Seeds that have been hybridized and tampered with genetically do not provide the solution before they are quite ripe. to feeding ourselves. Cleaning: Remove the chaff and Seed selection: As a seed saver, you other debris by sieving seeds through participate in selection, encouraging screens of different sized mesh. Winnow the qualities you most value in a plant. seeds in a light breeze to remove any Select seeds from the healthiest, besttiny particles or dust. I use a hairdryer performing plants in the garden, displayon a cold setting to do this. ing the most typical characteristics of Storing: The ideal temperature for the variety. If selection is not carefully storage is 5°C, in a dark, cool, humid maintained, it’s easy to lose the favourarea. Avoid fluctuations in temperature. able traits of a certain strain. Paper bags, envelopes or airtight con‘Off types’: Inspect the plants fretainers (yoghurt tubs) work well. Seeds quently to identify any ‘off types,’ plants retain longer viability when refrigerated that show different traits from the other or frozen. Place dried seeds in small, plants. These should be ‘rogued’ out by zip-lock, plastic bags; pack these into a removing them before they flower. sealed, glass jar and place in the fridge. Seed collection: Timing for seed collection is critical and observation is the Carolyn’s new book The Zero Mile key to success. Wait until seeds are ripe Diet – A Year-round Guide to Growing enough for collection, but don’t wait Great Organic Food is now available until they have dispersed into the gar(Harbour Publishing). http://earthfuden or the finches have eaten them. Be ture.com/gardenpath/
